Give Up The Video, Sheriff

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Give Up The Video, Sheriff - OC BLOG (CA), Part of the Red County Network

Give Up The Video, Sheriff

Posted by: Jubal | 01/26/2009 10:28 AM


On Friday, Total Buzz reported Sheriff Sandra Hutchens had refused to provide the Supervisors with the controversial surveillance video from the January 13 BOS meeting.

I followed up this morning with Assistant to the Sheriff Ryan Burris, who informed me the department has made it available for the Supes to review, stating that Assistant Sheriff Jack Anderson was over on the 5th floor with it on Thursday and Friday, where the supes and their staff could view it.

I've put in a request myself to see the video.

While I appreciate the Sheriff's making the video available for viewing by the supervisors and their staff, she needs to go all the way and provide an actual copy to any supervisor who requests it.

The security video equipment belongs to the Board of Supervisors, and surveillance video of what happens at a Board of Supervisors meeting belongs too the Board, not the Sheriff. Does Sheriff Hutchens really want to get into this turf war with the Board of Supervisors, when she has more pressing problems like jail reform and deputy overtime to deal with?
When I interviewed the Sheriff on Thursday, her reasons for not releasing the video sounded plausible: security concerns, blind spots, etc. But upon further thought, they don't carry nearly enough weight to prevail over the Board's desire to have the video.

Furthermore, the Sheriff's rationale brings into question the adequacy of the security the OCSD has been providing the Board. The department obviously knows there are blind spots in the surveillance camera's range, so why hasn't there been a request for additional funds to fix that?

If the Sheriff refuses to relent and makes good on her threat to retain a lawyer to fight, the Board ought to fire settle the matter of who controls their Boardroom by firing the Sheriff's Department and contract the job to an outside vendor.

UPDATE (11:31 a.m.): I received a response to my request to view the video:

"Because of the ongoing investigation/security/personnel concerns, we are not releasing and/or allowing for viewing to those outside the Hall of Administration."